Monday, April 16, 2007

Toxic Brooklyn

The usually annoying Vice Magazine crew's online TV channel VBS.tv has created an interesting series on what lurks beneath the grounds of million-dollar condos going up like wildfire in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.

Most of us who have lived in these parts for awhile are aware of some of these horrors, but the show is well worth checking out to give you more detailed statistics of all the toxins we live next to. Some of their facts aren't dead on based on other stuff i have read, but regardless, the point is still made and relevant.

I have a friend who has tried to make me promise I won't live in Greenpoint for more than 5 years (sorry, going on 6) for these exact reasons. Maybe it's why I'm working on day 4 of being sick at home.

4 comments:

Dear Anonymous,You'd have a lot more clout with the comments you keep putting up on my blog if you revealed your name and the organization you are working for. Your IP address shows the Bronx: what's your big interest in Greenpoint?

And true, the oil spill does only go under a bit of residental Greenpoint. But is that ok? And is ok that only half of the spill has been cleaned up??

I am not suggesting that the spill is ok. I just object to the story being exaggerated to hurt the community. My posting can easily be fact checked. There are no distortions of the truth in my posting and it deserves to be listed, not just commented on by you.

I noticed that, too, Edgar. I found the same posts I deleted on many other blogs. And if Anonymous' posting deserves to be listed, as they claim, you think he/she would find a better tactic than anonymously spamming blogsites. If you want others to comment on your points, there must be better avenues than posting on my blog.

No one is disputing that Williamsburg (and Hunts Point, and probably 50% of the city) has it's issues with health hazards. But why is one neighborhood more important than any another? While some of the facts in the Vbs.com film might be off, there's no disputing that there are BIG environmental issues in this area of Brooklyn that have been ignored for years.